Talk on "Assurances"

Assurances Talk

Growing up, when I went to visit my biological father he would play the classic rock station in his car. I'm turning out much the same way, except the music I play in my car is from the 90s or early 2000s instead of the 70s. In 1999 there was a song where the opening lines went, “All the small things. Truth cares, truth brings.” The song then goes on to explain about all the little things that the singer's girlfriend does for him as he goes through life. Of course, Heavenly Father knows us better than Tom DeLong's girlfriend ever could. As we go through our lives we will have periods of trial, large and small. This life can be hard to navigate. As members of the Church we know where we want to be headed in the end. We know that there are righteous goals that we can strive for in this life along the way. However, sometimes these goals do not come as easily or as fast as we would like. In these times we can receive small pieces of revelation or feelings from the Spirit that can help make us feel better in our harder moments. I have heard these feelings called 'assurances,' as they bring assurance that the Lord is with us and is watching over us.

Assurances are small, but that does not mean that they cannot be powerful. In The Book of Mormon, Alma the Younger teaches, “ . . . behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And the Lord doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.” (Alma 37:6-7) Often we hear about events like the First Vision of Joseph Smith or the angel that came to tell Alma to repent. I have no doubt that happened and could still happen now. Usually the events that occur in our lives are far less dramatic. How do we know that we have had an assurance from the Lord if they are so small? The Lord told Oliver Cowdery how to recognize them as he was helping Joseph Smith translate the Gold Plates. Oliver was told that he would be told in his mind and heart by the Holy Ghost, and was then reminded that it had happened as he had prayed to know if Joseph's work was true. (D&C 8-9) Like Oliver Cowdery, we too can know in our minds and hearts the things of the Spirit.

Assurances are helpful because we are not often given every step from start to finish. The path often twists and turns. Sometimes it seems like the thing we are trying to reach is a living thing that moves. On the African savannah there are many different predators. One of the most successful of these hunters is the leopard. A leopard is successful in more hunts than say a hyena because of the way it hunts. Hyenas get about ten of their buddies together and then rush at the zebras in full sight. Leopards look for prey from up in a tree. They can see their goal. But very rarely will a zebra or other animal casually walk under a tree where a leopard may be sitting. So when a leopard sees a herd in his territory he drops onto the ground and sneaks up on it. On the ground a leopard is only about two and a half feet tall. In grass that is 4 feet tall the leopard now has a much harder time seeing what it is hoping to eat. And zebras don't sit still. The leopard knows roughly where he wants to go, but he may not be able to see exactly. He has strategies to get to where the zebras are so he can eat one. When a leopard is creeping up on something he will climb up the backsides of termite mounds or small hills to see if it is still going in the right direction.

As we are working towards Eternal Life we may not feel confident that we are going in the right direction. It is at these times that the Lord will give us an assurance that we are on the right path. In essence He gives us a small hill to see over. The problem is that hills need to be climbed. Elder Richard G. Scott taught about these times in his talk Trust in the Lord when he said, “They often come after the trial has been the greatest, as evidence of the compassion and love of an all knowing Father. They point the way to greater happiness, more understanding, and strengthen your determination to accept and be obedient to His will.” These assurances may not be specific direction, but instead of that I have had the thought, “you are doing just fine.” In these instances we can be confident that the Lord knows the end from the beginning and will not lead us astray. Elder Scott admonished the members of the Church to, “Act where you are able, then let the matter rest with the Lord for a period . . . before you take on appropriate concern again.”

Another of the leopard's greatest strengths is patience. It can stay perfectly still for minutes at a time, or move only inches in its bid to catch dinner. It may seem like rushing towards a worthy goal is the best and most obvious choice to get it. But as has been said many times, the Lord's timetable may not be ours. He is preparing us for eternity. To do that He has to try and stretch us. “Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain.” In these times it is best to remember that the Lord has promised not to leave us comfortless. When the people of Alma were enslaved by the Lamanites in Helam, they were asked to work very hard. The leader of the Lamanite masters was one of the wicked priests of king Noah. This priest did not want the people to pray and said he would have anyone who did pray killed. The people of Alma trusted in the Lord and prayed in their hearts. The Lord did not immediately save them, but he did ease their burdens and make it so the work was easier. After the trial of their faith, the Lord led the people away from the Lamanites and back to safety.

There are several ways that we can be ready to receive assurances when the Lord wants to give them to us. First we must believe that Heavenly Father will give us revelation through the Holy Ghost. Again from Elder Scott, “This life is an experience in profound trust- trust in Jesus Christ . . . trust in our capacity as led by the Holy Spirit to obey those teachings for happiness now and for a purposeful, supremely happy eternal existence. To trust means to obey willingly without knowing the end from the beginning.” Combine that with these words from Elder Jeffery R. Holland, “Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead—a lot of it—,” and we have a very powerful step towards receiving not only assurance from God that we are on the right path, but the great blessings he has in store for us as well. Before Moroni appeared to the boy Joseph Smith, Joseph believed that he could receive a divine manifestation, because, as he said, he had already had one. Even in our toughest times we can know that we can have comfort from the Lord because we have already had it in our lives.

The scriptures often say, “Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you.” There may be assurances and blessings that the Lord is willing to give to us, but instead of just handing them out, He wants us to exercise humility and faith by coming to Him in prayer. Prayer is also a good way to receive those assurances once we have asked for them. President Gordon B. Hinckley taught that prayer should not be given like a grocery list or ordering food, without any thought. We don't go to the Lord and say, “OK, I need 2 large pizzas, one cheese, one pepperoni, and some breadsticks. K, bye.” As we kneel to pray we need to be reminded that we are speaking to our loving Father in Heaven. He will answer us as we listen. When I was a missionary I had a companion, Elder Bradshaw, who would get down on his knees and not start praying for almost a minute, and then would wait another minute after he was done before getting up. When I first was transferred to the area I asked him why he always did that. His answer was that we prayed to the Lord to get help and answers, so we should listen to hear or feel what the Lord would have us know. He wouldn't start praying until he felt like he was in the right frame of mind, and he wouldn't get up until he felt at least a little better about what he had asked. Not all of our large questions will be answered in such short a time, but we can feel the love of the Savior immediately.

Not having immediate answers to prayers takes faith, but it can qualify us for greater blessings as we are faithful. To receive those blessings we need to do the will of the Father as the Savior did. Elder Scott explains, “How grateful I am personally that our Savior taught we should conclude our most urgent, deeply felt prayers, when we ask for that which is of utmost importance to us, with “Thy will be done.” (Matthew 26:42) Your willingness to accept the will of the Father will not change what in His wisdom He has chosen to do. However, it will certainly change the effect of those decisions on you personally. That evidence of the proper exercise of agency allows His decisions to produce far greater blessings in your life.”

Combining study of the scriptures with prayer is a good way to receive comfort from life's struggles. In the scriptures are many stories and examples of how to work through trials and still receive the love of God. When Helaman and the 2000 stripling warriors were fighting there were times when they felt afraid or downhearted. But the scriptures tell us that they fasted and prayed and then were comforted. Enos went into the forest and prayed until he received a remission of his sins. Sometimes the stories in the scriptures don't seem to have anything to do with our situation. That doesn't mean that they are not worth reading. In my quest to be a fully independent adult I have tried moving to Idaho a few times. I went to Brigham Young University- Idaho in Rexburg. After I graduated I tried to stay there, but because of various reasons that didn't work. One day I was reading in Alma chapter 8 and I read these words in verse 16, “And behold, I am sent to command thee that thou return to the city of Ammonihah, and to preach again unto the people of the city.” and in verse 18, “Now it came to pass that after Alma had received his message from the angel of the Lord he returned speedily to the land of Ammonihah.” I knew I needed to return somewhere, but of course I couldn't return to Ammonihah. I don't know where that is. So I returned to California. About 2 years ago I tried again to move and be on my own. For awhile it seemed to be a good move, but as you can see, in the end, I came back. The important part of reading the scriptures is to become closer to Christ. Through Him we can be guided throughout life.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we have the Priesthood. One thing that the Priesthood does is allow us to give and receive blessings from those who have the authority to administer them. Getting a blessing can be a wonderful experience. They are revelation from a loving Heavenly Father. It is so nice to get the personal word of the Lord in spoken English sometimes. I have often heard phrases such as, “You are doing well.” “Be comforted,” or “Feel the love of your Heavenly Father.” Those sentences are reminders that I need and can go back to again and again as I work through my struggles in life. A struggle I have with blessings is that I have felt as if I was being an inconvenience to others when I wanted a blessing. Remember that the Priesthood exists so that service can be performed. There is always someone who is willing to help out when you need something. Another type of blessing is our Patriarchal blessing. These blessings are helpful for getting assurances for several reasons. First they are often set up as a basic blueprint for our lives. They may have different things covered because every person's life is different, but the Lord will help us know at least a little of what we need to do. Second, it is evidence of the Lord's love and concern for us. He knows my name and your name. He knows who we are, what we struggle with. He leaves messages of love and encouragement in our individual blessings.

Even if we do not seem to be making great headway with certain areas of our lives, we can receive daily personal reminders from the Spirit. To receive those daily reminders we need to be worthy of that Spirit, the Holy Ghost, that will deliver the messages. Elder Scott says that, “If you are suffering the disheartening affects of transgression, please recognize that the only path to permanent relief from sadness is sincere repentance with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Realize your full dependence on the Lord and your need to align your life with His teachings.Postponing humble repentance will delay or prevent your receiving relief.” The Lord wants to help you and give you revelation to encourage you along the path.

Every Sunday we have the opportunity to look backwards and forwards as we partake of the Sacrament. This ordinance of the Gospel goes hand in hand with repentance as we renew our covenants with the Lord and reaffirm our desires to be close to Him and do what he asks of us.

The most important part of receiving an assurance, no matter how small is to follow it. Last week in Stake Conference, President Ostler told the Old Testament story of Naaman. As you remember, Naaman was a very important person in the Syrian army, but he had leprosy. Hearing about Elisha the prophet, Naaman went to see him. Elisha, through his servant, told Naaman to wash in the Jordan River seven times. At first Naaman did not want to do this. After all, there were nicer rivers back in Syria. But a servant of Naaman pleaded with him to do as Elisha had asked. He reasoned that if the prophet had asked Naaman to do some amazing thing he would have done it, so why not do the easy thing- dip in Jordan seven times and be healed. I have noticed that I am often like Naaman. I have no problem when President Monson says to avoid the big stuff. But personal scriptures reading every day is a struggle. I can come up with some great excuses why I don't do it. Someone might see me doing it (because apparently having people see you read scriptures is a bad thing?) or I don't have time (but I do have time to get on Facebook for an hour to see that no one has written on my wall.) And all of this even though as was demonstrated above, that the scriptures are a source of revelation and help in several different ways. We must remember that for many things there are no easy quick fixes. We may struggle with things for years. We may ask questions over and over. According to Elder Scott, some questions are better than others. Why does this have to happen to me? Or What have I done? Do not show faith. They are questions that concentrate on ourselves. Rather, ask, What can I do? What are some blessings that I have? But there is absolute assurance that, in the Lord's time, a solution will be presented.

It is better to be like Jesus. He is the greatest example we could ever hope to get. He did as the Father asked him to do every single time. We won't be that good, but we can keep working towards becoming more like Him. As was noted, we should live our lives with one of Christ's preeminent sentences ever on our lips, “Father, if Thou be willing remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” The Lord may choose to answer our questions now or later, but they will be answered. We need to have a profound trust in Jesus Christ. Exercising faith means to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing. He wants us to succeed. Even if we do not understand why we need to go through what we do and we struggle to see how any of this helps we should be willing to submit to the will of the Father. As we pass through trials for His purposes, He will help you. He will tell us of promised blessings, and Heavenly Father always keeps his promises. Abraham was promised Isaac long before he arrived. Then the Lord asked Abraham to sacrifice his son. Even though the angel stopped Abraham and provided a ram, it looked for a time like Isaac would be killed. But the Lord keeps his covenants. Nephi knew of Jesus Christ 600 years before He came. The Nephites went through some tough times before Christ came, but He did come. Obedience to Christ is a sure foundation on which to build your life. When we build our lives upon the Rock who is Jesus Christ we will be safe from when, “The devil shall send forth his mighty winds.” (Helaman 5:12)

 Assurances from the Lord do not come all at once. It comes step by step as we move forward with faith in Christ. “While you are passing through each phase, the pain and difficulty that comes from being enlarged will continue. If all matters were immediately resolved at your first petition, you could not grow.Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit.” during those times of growing Heavenly Father will not leave you to wander alone. Elder Scott gives us this relieving counsel, “I have found that because of our Father's desire for us to grow, He may give us gentle, almost imperceptible promptings that, if we are willing to accept without complaint, He will enlarge to become a very clear indication of His will. This enlightenment comes because of our faith and our willingness to do what He asks even though we would desire something else. . . Please learn that as you wrestle with a challenge and feel sadness because of it, you can simultaneously have peace and rejoicing. Yes, pain, disappointment, frustration, and anguish can be temporary scenes played out on the stage of life. Behind them there can be a background of peace and the positive assurance that a loving Father will keep His promises. You can qualify for those promises by a determination to accept His will, by understanding the Plan of Happiness, by receiving all of the ordinances, and by keeping the covenants made to assure their fulfillment.”